


It's a Secret

by 27dragons



Series: 27dragons' Tony Stark Bingo [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Pining, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 01:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19052773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons
Summary: Tony blinked at the long-emptied mug he’d sat down with, and then at the new mug, and then up at Hot Barista. “I didn’t order anything?”“Yeah, I know. You’ve got a secret admirer.”“Oh.” Tony twisted in his seat a little, scanning the coffee shop. It was doing a fairly brisk business, but Tony didn’t see anyone obviously watching. “Who is it?”“I just said, it’s asecret.”(Tony Stark Bingo fill for square K4 - Secret Admirer)





	It's a Secret

Tony set his coffee on the table and dropped into “his” chair. This had been his spot for months, now, and his favorite coffee shop had recently gathered even _more_ points with him by hiring an exceptionally hot barista. Tony hadn’t figured out the guy’s name yet -- the nametag just had the shop’s logo on it, and a blank spot where the name should be -- but it was well worth the price of the coffee just to see the guy smile and blush when Tony flirted a little.

He plugged in his laptop, stretched his fingers, and settled in. This project was going to revolutionize the world, he just knew it -- if he could ever get the damned thing to work, even just on paper.

By the time he’d been there for an hour, he had a dozen tabs open on his web browser, three separate calculation-intensive spreadsheets, two documents, and a high-end graphics program running. He hesitated, saved everything, and then opened the CAD program.

The soft whir of the laptop’s internal fan turned into a high-pitched whine. “Come on, baby, you can do it,” Tony urged. “Make me proud.”

“Does that work?”

Tony looked up with a start to see the hot barista standing by his chair, looking amused. He was holding a mug with a plate balanced on top of it -- having an empty, pinned-up sleeve did not detract from Hot Barista’s hotness even a little bit -- and on the plate was a giant cookie. “What?”

“Talking to the computer,” Hot Barista said. “Does it work?”

“Oh. Sometimes.” Tony grinned and petted the side of the laptop’s monitor soothingly as it continued to churn and attempt to load drivers into its swiftly-disappearing memory.

Hot Barista chuckled, then set down the mug and the plate on the table. “Here you go, these are for you.”

Tony blinked at the long-emptied mug he’d sat down with, and then at the new mug, and then up at Hot Barista. “I didn’t order anything?”

“Yeah, I know. You’ve got a secret admirer.”

“Oh.” Tony twisted in his seat a little, scanning the coffee shop. It was doing a fairly brisk business, but Tony didn’t see anyone obviously watching. “Who is it?”

“I just said, it’s a _secret_.” Hot Barista winked, scooped up the empty mug, and headed back to the counter.

Tony let himself watch Hot Barista’s ass and thighs, because _hnng_ , and then looked back at his laptop.

The CAD program had finally loaded and was patiently awaiting Tony’s input. “Yes!” he enthused, pumping a fist into the air triumphantly.

Hot Barista glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. Tony gave him a thumbs-up, then got to work reinventing the world.

***

Hot Barista’s nametag had a name on it, finally. “Bucky, really?” Tony said before he could filter himself.

Luckily, Bucky didn’t seem offended by Tony’s incredulousness. “It’s a perfectly serviceable name,” he said, punching Tony’s order into the POS. “For here, yeah?”

“As usual,” Tony agreed. He leaned on the counter and watched as Hot-- as Bucky drew his coffee, and then took it over to his favorite spot to get set up.

He’d barely finished plugging his laptop in when Bucky was standing by his table, this time with a blueberry muffin. “Your secret admirer strikes again.”

Tony scanned the shop. It was less busy than the first time, but still bustling. “Sure you won’t tell me who it is?” he asked, breaking off a piece of the muffin and nibbling on it.

“You’re failing to understand the concept of _secret_ , here,” Bucky said, eyes twinkling.

“I’m going to find out,” Tony said reasonably.

“I’m sure you will, but not today.” Bucky leaned over to look at Tony’s screen. “What are you working on all the time in here, anyway?”

“Clean energy initiative,” Tony said. “If I can just work out the wrinkles, it’ll be a real game-changer.”

“Yeah? Good luck getting that past the oil barons and climate change deniers.”

“One thing at a time,” Tony said. “I’ve got a plan. But the plan’s no good if the tech doesn’t actually _work_.”

“Fair point,” Bucky admitted. “You let me know if you need a refill, okay, doll?”

“Yep, I will do that.” Tony grinned, broke off another piece of the muffin, and got down to work.

***

The next one was one of the shop’s specialty mini-quiches, goat cheese, tomato, and mushroom. “No sweets this time?”

Bucky shrugged. “You worked through your usual dinnertime. Thought you might be actually hungry.”

Tony glanced at his watch, surprised, and only then registered the rumbling of his stomach. “Huh. Good call. Tell them thank you for me, would you?”

Bucky grinned. “Will do.”

***

Bucky put a brownie on the table and Tony said, “Want to join me? You can help me eat it.”

“I’m working,” Bucky pointed out, but he didn’t actually say no.

Tony leaned back to look past Bucky at the rest of the shop. “Things look slow,” he said. “Come on, sit down, have a bite or two.”

Bucky hesitated, but then slid into the chair across from Tony. “Thanks.”

“Nah, I’m stuck, I need a break, too.” Tony grinned and broke the corner off the brownie. It was perfect, decadent and rich. “What do you do when you’re not slinging espresso?”

“There's not much to me,” Bucky said. “I work, I watch TV, I fall asleep. Physical therapy a couple times a week--” He shrugged his left shoulder to indicate the missing arm. “--and once in a blue moon, I hang out with my best friend and his boyfriend.”

“I feel like you’re not telling me everything,” Tony said, smiling just a little. “No boyfriend of your own? Or girlfriend, or... whatever?”

Bucky shook his head. “Hard to date with a missing arm. It turns a lot of people off. And the one who’re left, you end up wondering if it’s just some kind of fetish for them, you know?”

“Yeah, that’s got to be kind of gross,” Tony agreed. “But you have to do something for fun. Even if it sounds boring or weird. What is it? Museums? Dancing? Butter carving?”

Bucky snorted out a little laugh. “Butter carving, really?”

“State fairs are liminal spaces,” Tony said solemnly, just to watch Bucky’s mouth twitch into a smile again. “Come on, what are you an absolute nerd for?”

“Uh.” Bucky glanced up at him, looked away again. “There’s a sci-fi and fantasy con that I go to every year?”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Tony said, delighted. “What’s your poison? Star Wars? Game of Thrones? Supernatural? Yuri on Ice?”

“I don’t even have time to go down the list right now,” Bucky said, that smile tugging at the corner of his lips again.

“Maybe later, then,” Tony conceded. Bucky _was_ working, technically. Tony couldn’t actually hog his attention.

“Sure, maybe.” Bucky hesitated. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you even interested?”

“Seriously?” Tony leaned forward, counting the points off on his fingers. “One: I’m a nerd too; it’s nice to talk to someone who can speak the language. Two: I’m kind of hoping to get some ideas so I can ask you out, because three: you can’t just keep giving me food forever and pretending it’s from some anonymous ‘secret admirer’.”

Bucky’s eyes went wide and a blush started crawling up out of his shirt collar. “What-- How-- I didn’t, I mean--”

Tony chuckled. “Yeah, it turns out I don’t play fair. I have a photographic memory. So I’ve been tracking all the faces of the people who were in the shop every time, to try to figure it out, and it took a few rounds -- this place has a _lot_ of regulars -- but you’re the only actual constant.”

“Shit.” Bucky looked like he was ready to slide off the chair, under the table, and into a pit. “Sorry, that’s... I didn’t mean to come across all stalker-y, I just...”

“I _did_ just say I was going to ask you out,” Tony pointed out. “I mean, I’ve thought you were hot since the first time I saw you, I’m not going to lie. I just didn’t want to be _that guy_ who takes advantage of someone having to be nice to me because it’s their job.”

Bucky chewed on his lip. “Really?”

“I called you _Hot Barista_ in my head until you finally got a name on your nametag,” Tony admitted.

Bucky was still blushing, but he didn’t look like he wanted to crawl under a rock anymore. “Oh. Uh. So... My shift ends at eight?”

“Yeah, I know.” Tony grinned, a little sheepishly. “I’m not the only one here with a secret admirer.”


End file.
